The Girl Born of Smoke Read Online Free

“Now get some sleep,” she
called over her shoulder, tossing over a spare blanket.
    Nodding again, Aurora plopped down on the
ground a short distance away from Roxanne and Kirian, wrapping
herself in the blanket, which was unexpectedly dry. Resting her
cheek down on the wet ground and closing her eyes, she felt herself
almost immediately floating away into dreams. With a small sigh,
she nestled deeper into her blanket and relaxed, drifting off into
an exhausted sleep.
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    They reached a small town the next morning,
nestled on the edge of the forest. Aurora felt a strange sense of
disappointment deep in her chest at the sight of the town that
would be her new home. The people looked at the three with stares
of suspicion. “People really aren’t too friendly in this part of
the world, are they?” Roxanne muttered under her breath.
    Aurora shrugged. “Well, thanks for showing
me the way,” she said, reaching down to slip off the loaned
sandals. “You can have these back now, I won’t really need them
here.” Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up.
    “Look,” Roxanne said awkwardly. “We kind of
talked last night and we don’t feel right just leaving you here. We
want you to come back to Kain with us. We have a house there with
an extra room and you could stay with us, if you wanted.”
    Confusion tickling at the disappointment in
her chest, Aurora looked between the two, noting Kirian’s unhappy
expression. “No, you don’t have to-“ she started.
    “Seriously,” Roxanne interrupted. “You can
come. It won’t be a problem.” She gave Kirian a look.
    “Yeah,” he said flatly.
    Aurora’s eyes lit up. “Really? I can come
live with you? I swear I won’t be a nuisance,” she said hurriedly.
“And if I am, well you can kick me out if you want.”
    Roxanne laughed and tousled her hair. “Don’t
worry, it’ll be fine. Now let’s get out of here.” She grimaced at
the people openly staring at them, silently disapproving of their
presence.
    The three left quickly, only stopping to buy
more supplies and find out the name of the town so they could
locate it on the map. After that, they walked and walked. They
walked longer than Aurora thought possible without walking right
into the ocean. They slept huddled in the sweet, warm grass in
meadows, on the needle-padded banks of streams, and occasionally in
rented beds if they were near a town. Although Kirian was mostly
silent for the first week, he slowly opened up when Roxanne began
naming the things Aurora would like about Kain.
    “Leafy trees,” she said, “and pastries and
the sea.”
    “Kites,” Kirian said suddenly. “She’ll like
the kites.”
    Roxanne grinned. “Yeah, and the sight of
mountains in the distance. It’s too flat here.”
    “That’s for sure.” Kirian nodded. “Hey, and
buildings more than one story tall.”
    They both laughed and the tension that had
been present finally eased. Aurora felt herself relax for the first
time since leaving Delobo.
    “You know, I'm kind of surprised we haven't
seen any Citizens’ or Wizard's armies on our trip,” Roxanne
remarked, leaping from one boulder to another as they climbed a
grassy hill.
    “I imagine they're probably all still over
in the Caleth area.” Kirian answered, walking calmly around the
boulders. “They couldn’t have moved all that far in just a year,
especially with all the fighting that was going on.”
    Aurora scrambled up the hill, struggling to
keep up with the older two. “What?” she panted.
    “Oh, Caleth,” Roxanne explained, “it's an
area far from here, on the other coast. Probably not the nicest
area to visit right now.”
    It hadn't been what Aurora was asking, but
she shrugged and leapt off a rock into the long grass. They were
approaching the top of the hill and the chilly wind swept through
the grass, tickling her bare arms.
    “You don't think maybe the war is over?”
Roxanne asked.
    Kirian scoffed. “Yeah, right. They